The Promise We Made
by Chaoshime
Summary: When I first met him, I was only seven. At first I found him a bit weird, playing all alone like that. Plus, there was just something about him…something different.


**This is an old one-shot I wrote a long time ago. Thought I'd fix it up and upload it :P Hope you guys enjoy! ^_^**

**Disclaimer! I do not own anything from Naruto! I only own my ocs and my fake village (which came from an old Naruto webcomic I once read :P The name is likely to change just to let you guys know.)**

* * *

_**When I first met him, I was only seven. At first I found him a bit weird, playing all alone like that. Plus, there was just something about him…something different.**_

Hiroko kept a tight grip on her father's shirt. The seven-year-old also kept looking around with her brown eyes at all the people passing by. She didn't like being surrounded by all these people she didn't know. Perhaps she should have stayed back in their home village—the Leaf-Bud Village, a small shinobi village that hardly gets any missions. Most of the time, they just got missions that the Hidden Leaf Village rejects.

"Papa," Hiroko said, still looking around. "Why are we here again?"

Hideo smiled down at his daughter.

"We're here to see if the Leaf Village has any missions that they've rejected. Our shinobi have been quite eager to take on a mission, probably because they haven't had a mission in so long."

Hiroko said nothing else and just kept walking alongside her father. Her father must have sensed her discomfort because he chuckled, "If you want, why don't you go play with some of the kids other there. I'll come get you when I'm done okay?"

Hiroko smiled, nodded, then ran off to play with the other kids. She was about to join the game a group of kids where playing when she noticed a lone boy sitting on the swing set. Hiroko frowned, wondering why he was sitting alone. Hiroko stopped then looked between the kids playing the game, and the lone boy. After a few brief seconds of debate, she headed towards the lone boy.

* * *

Naruto sat alone on one of the swings on the swing set, his gaze on the other kids playing. He had asked if he could join their game but, as expected, they told him to get lost. Gritting his teeth and balling up his fists, he just turned and left.

"Hi there."

Naruto looked to see a seven-year-old girl with short black hair and brown eyes. She was wearing a black and white kimono top, dark blue skirt, and black sandals.

"Is it okay if I join you?" she asked with a smile.

Naruto was a bit hesitant to answer. He didn't know who this girl was, but she was probably the first person that _ever _asked to play with him_._

"S—Sure," he said. "I don't mind."

"Cool." The girl sat down on the other swing on Naruto's left. "My name's Hiroko by the way. What's your name?"

"Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki."

"So…how come you're sitting here by yourself?"

Naruto wrinkled his nose.

"I…felt like it," he told her. "Nothing more to it."

Hiroko frowned and didn't say anything. She just started to swing back and forth a little bit.

"I've never seen you around the village," Naruto said, trying to change the subject. "Are you new here?"

Hiroko shook her head. "No. I'm from the Leaf-Bud Village. I came here with my dad to see if the Leaf Village could give us any missions that they've rejected. Dad said our shinobi are eager for a mission since none of them had any in such a long time. Dad says that because we're such a small shinobi village we hardly get any missions."

"Really? I didn't know that."

Hiroko shrugged. "Not very many people know about our village." Suddenly Hiroko got an idea. "Hey, you wanna see something cool?"

"Huh?" Naruto tilted his head in confusion as Hiroko jumped off the swing. She reached into her skirt pocket and pulled out something. Naruto saw that it was a hollow stick with a yo-yo coming out of it. "What is _that_ supposed to be?"

"It's a toy that's modeled after a popular weapon in our village," Hiroko explained with a proud smile. "See, the actual weapon is a lot like a _chigiriki. _But the chain can be controlled by chakra as well as the ball itself. See, our academy hands these out to help us practice our chakra control as well as to train to use the weapon." Hiroko smiled greatly. "Pretty cool right? I carry it around all the time so I can continue my training even when I'm not at home."

"So then you want to be a shinobi?" Naruto asked. Hiroko nodded proudly.

"That's right. It's my dream to someday be an honorable shinobi that my village can be proud of and respect." Hiroko then leaned forward. "So what's your dream? I mean, you've got to have one too right?"

"My dream…? Well…"

Naruto glanced away for a moment. A part of him didn't want to tell her his dream. She was a near total stranger after all. Although…she was the first kid his age to be nice to him. The only other person who was really nice to him was Iruka sensei. Well, plus the Third Hokage but Naruto barley saw him so he didn't count as much.

"My dream…is to one day become Hokage."

Now it was Hiroko's turn to tilt her head in confusion. Then she glanced upward in thought.

"Hokage huh?" Hiroko then smiled and looked at Naruto. "Oh I remember now. The Hokage is the leader of your village right? So then…you want to one day lead your village?"

Naruto nodded without looking at her.

"That sounds like a great dream to have. You should Pledge on it."

Naruto looked at her.

"Huh?"

Hiroko opened her mouth to explain when a ball landed in front of her. She picked it up just as one of the boys who were playing came over.

"Sorry about that," he apologized. "Mind if we have that back?"

Hiroko nodded then handed the ball back. "Hey, think Naruto and I can play with you guys?" she asked with a smile.

The boy sneered then glared at Naruto out of the corner of his eye. Naruto gripped the chains of the swing but gave a small glare back.

"What makes you think I'd play with someone like _him_?" the boy scowled.

It happened next took Naruto a few moments to comprehend. One second Hiroko was looking at the boy with a loathing look, her grip tightening on her toy weapon. The next the yo-yo struck the boy in the face…but Hiroko didn't move one inch. It was like the yo-yo had a will. Then Naruto noticed the string was glowing blue.

Before the boy could recover from the blow Hiroko lifted the toy and the yo-yo flew back then she slashed the air with it, the yo-yo practically _slapped_ him in the face. Then she pulled the toy back again then pointed it forward. The yo-yo wrapped around the boy's ankles in response. Hiroko then pulled back once again, causing the boy's feet to fly out from under him. He hit the ground hard. The yo-yo then acted on it's own again as it reeled back into the stick as Hiroko lifted her head up.

"Well maybe we don't want to play with a stupid mean boy like you who needs a good beating!" Hiroko said so fast that it took Naruto a second to work out what she said. Then she walked over, grabbed Naruto's wrist, then began to guide him away.

It wasn't until they reached the Academy training grounds that Hiroko finally let go of Naruto's wrist. Naruto was still in shock over what happened back at the playground to try and get out of her grip. Then again, she had a strong grip on his wrist.

"Bah, stupid prick," Hiroko muttered, placing her hands on her hips. "Probably shouldn't have gone easy on him."

"Why did you do that?" Naruto asked.

Hiroko turned to look at him.

"Because he was a stupid prick that's why," Hiroko explained, crossing her arms. "Who needs him."

"He's not the only person to trick me like that," Naruto ended up muttering without really thinking. Hiroko looked at him with a confused frown. Naruto just glanced up at the Hokage Faces. "That's why I wanna be Hokage. So people will finally stop disrespecting me and start treating me like somebody important."

"Then you go for it!" Hiroko proclaimed so loud and quick it made Naruto jump back in surprise. "Don't listen to what pricks like that one guy say. You go for your dream Naruto! You can Pledge on it!"

"What is this 'Pledge' you keep taking about?"

"Oh, it's something from our academy. It was made from a bit of a joke but it became this tradition. Here, it goes like this." Hiroko held out her toy weapon. "Wait…you're right-handed right?"

"Yeah…"

"Okay then, grab the stick with your right hand."

Naruto, though confused, did as she said. Hiroko then cleared her throat.

"Naruto Uzumaki, you have declared your dream to become Hokage of Konohagakure. Do you pledge to work your hardest for this dream, and to not let this dream change who you are?"

"Uh…yes?"

"Do you also pledge that once your dream has been achieved, you will not forget the trials you had to overcome to achieve it?"

"Yes…"

Hiroko then smiled. "Then as a shinobi-to-be, I, Hiroko Saito, also pledge to do the same. I also wish you the best of luck and hope you do accomplish your dream."

"…Is that it?" Naruto ended up asking after Hiroko stayed silent for awhile after saying all that.

"Kind of yeah," Hiroko admitted with a blush. "Sounds silly right?"

"Kind of yeah," Naruto said with a smile.

"Yeah I know. But it's still a tradition. One you're supposed to make with a friend or friends."

"With…a friend?"

"Yup."

"So then…we're friends?"

"Course we are," Hiroko smiled. "Oh, and you can let go of the stick now."

Naruto chuckled sheepishly when he realized he was still gripping it.

"So then, Hokage-to-be, want to do some training. After all, becoming Hokage isn't an easy task."

Naruto smiled and nodded.

* * *

Naruto and Hiroko practiced their shuriken throwing until the sun started to set. While Hiroko did poke fun at Naruto for his lack of accuracy, she also tried to help him aim better. It worked sometimes but she just told him that with practice. Naruto angrily muttered how Sasuke could hit the target no problem and how everyone wouldn't stop saying how talented he was.

"Well then he just has natural talent. There's still the type of talent that you can only get _from_ practicing. That's what my dad says," Hiroko said, "that there are two types of talents. Ones that people are born with and ones that you have to practice to get."

Naruto practiced a little harder as he thought about that. Pretty soon though the two heard someone calling Hiroko's name.

"Papa!" Hiroko smiled as she ran up to hug her dad. Naruto frowned at the sight. Naruto had never been able to do that. He didn't have a dad…

"So _this_ is where you've been," her dad mused. "Training as usual."

"Course. I've got to train to be a great shinobi," Hiroko grinned. "Oh, papa, come meet my new friend Naruto."

Hiroko pulled her dad over to where Naruto was.

"Papa, this is Naruto. Naruto, this is my papa."

Hiroko's dad glanced down at Naruto with a plain expression. Naruto looked back up at him, a part of him expecting him to start to glare at him with the same loathing look that almost all the adults in the village did, but then blinked when he smiled.

"It's nice to meet you Naruto. I'm always happy to meet another one of my daughter's friends," he said, getting eye level with him then ruffling up his hair. "I know she can be a handful sometimes. Hope she didn't cause you any trouble."

Naruto automatically thought back to when she used her toy to attack that one boy but said nothing.

"I had fun hanging out with her," was all he said.

"Glad to hear. And I'm sorry to say but we have to go back to our village now."

Naruto started to frown. He almost forgot. Hiroko didn't live here. So now his one friend had to leave. And he wasn't sure if she was coming back.

"It was nice training with you Naruto!" Hiroko waved as her and her dad started to walk away. Naruto waved back but he still had a bit of a frown on his face as he watched them leave. But pretty soon Hiroko stopped, said something to her dad, then ran back.

"Almost forgot," she said. She then presented her toy weapon. "Here. This is for you."

"What for?" Naruto asked as he took it.

"To remind you of your Pledge," Hiroko smiled. "Plus, I want _you_ to hold onto it. Because once I achieve my dream of being a shinobi, and fulfilling my half of the Pledge, I'm coming back for it. So you _better_ take good care of it until then, okay?"

Naruto blinked for awhile then smiled. "I will. I promise!"

Hiroko smiled then ran back to her dad.

* * *

"So did you have fun today Hiroko?" Hideo smiled, looking down at her as she skipped along.

"Sure did daddy!"

"You know Hiroko, I think you made Naruto really happy today. More than he probably has been in a long while."

"How come?" Hiroko asked, ceasing her skipping to look up at him.

Hideo frowned then looked forward. Perhaps he shouldn't tell her this. It _was_ a law within Konohagakure. Course they weren't members of the village so they didn't _really_ have to obey such a law.

"Hiroko," Hideo said, hoping he wasn't making a mistake. "Do you remember what happened to the village nine years ago?"

Hiroko looked down. She knew what he was talking about.

"You mean Kurama attacking the village?"

"That's right. You remember what happened to it?"

"The Fourth Hokage defeated it. What about it?"

"You see, the truth is Hiroko, the Nine-Tailed Fox was _sealed_ within Naruto."

Hiroko looked at her father in shock and disbelief.

"That's the reason for Naruto being treated so poorly by the villagers of Konoha. Instead of seeing a young boy, one who's probably very lonely because of this, they only see that demon."

"…That's not fair," Hiroko said, looking at the ground again. "He doesn't act anything like that."

"I saw that. The point I'm really trying to make Hiroko, is that I'm proud of you. You may not have done much but I think you really helped him just by becoming friends with him."

"He'll have more friends," Hiroko said, looking forward. "I know he will. Maybe not now but someday. I just _know_ he'll have lots and lots of friends. But until that day, I'm glad to be his friend."

Hideo smiled at her as they continued walking back to their small village.

_**Even when I found out that he was Kurama's jinchuriki, I didn't hate him. After all, he was my friend. And we both made a Pledge. And in our village, that was something you didn't go back on. And I never wanted to go back on it.**_

* * *

Naruto gripped the toy stick in his hand as he continued to walk. Thankfully the Third Hokage told him where to go so he didn't get lost on the way there. As he walked he glanced down at the toy weapon he had received from her all those years ago. He kept his promise to her, he kept it in good condition. He never trained with it though. He just kept it in his apartment, a reminder of his Pledge.

Naruto reached the gravestone marker. The second he walked up to it he spotted her name right away.

_Hiroko Saito—age: 10_

Engraved on the stone marker were names of all the other kids who had died when a rival village had attacked. Their first act was to bomb the academy. Most of the kids were killed. Naruto had been told from her father, Hideo, that she was in class when the hidden paper bomb went off. She didn't have a chance.

"Hey Hiroko," Naruto said, his voice wavering a bit. "Guess what? I became a genin just a few days ago. I failed the graduation exam three times but I finally became a ninja—one step closer to becoming Hokage. I still haven't forgotten my Pledge."

Naruto glanced at the toy weapon.

"Here, I know you were planning on coming to get it when you became a shinobi but…thought it'd be better if I gave it back."

Naruto leaned the stick against the stone grave marker.

"Don't you worry Hiroko," he said, this time speaking with a more determined tone. "I'm not going back on my promise. I'm never going back on my word. That's my nindo, my shinobi way. Someday I _will_ become Hokage. I won't let you down."

Naruto bowed to the stone, his way of paying his respects.

"Sorry I can't stay longer," he said. "But my new squad and I are going on a new mission today. I'll come back sometime later. Until then…okay?"

As Naruto left, he thought back to her smile when she declared them friends. He also thought back to what she had told him.

"_You go for your dream Naruto!"_ she told him.

And he would. Nothing was going to stop him. And with that thought in mind, Naruto headed back to his village, ready for whatever challenge was waiting for him.

* * *

**Yeah...no happy ending here. But I just wanted to write a one-shot about something to cause Naruto's resolve to become Hokage to become even stronger...or something like that. I can't remember the full reason it's been so long. But yeah, before people get mad and tell me that Naruto didn't have any friends when he was nine (I think that's how old he was when he started going to the Academy, that's when this takes place), but technically the show/manga tend to contradict this. (At least I know for a fact the show does, I can't remember if the manga does.) Mainly because some episodes show Naruto hanging out with Kiba and them during their Academy days when other times it states he was alone until Team 7 so...I'm still not sure about that.**

**Anyway, until next time!**


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